27 January, 2022
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Maggy Heintz as Executive Director of UKCDR.
Dr Maggy Heintz brings deep research and research development experience to UKCDRs mission to accelerate global development through the power of research and knowledge. Her experience building multidisciplinary partnerships with lower-and middle-income countries will be of great value when working with our members to deliver impact in international development research.
Maggy succeeds Dr John Kirkland, OBE, who served as UKCDR’s interim Executive Director since August 2021. John’s substantial experience in international development and research was highly valued over the past six months. We greatly appreciate his time and direction in guiding our team.
Dr John Kirkland said:
“The last few months have been an important time for ODA funded research. UKCDR has contributed to relevant debates in several important areas from climate-development research at COP26 to the value of ODA research. It’s been great to be involved in this.
Under Maggy’s leadership, I’m sure that our high-quality team will be well placed to continue to support the UK funder community even further during the next few years.”
Marie Staunton, Chair of the Strategic Coherence for ODA Research (SCOR) Board, said:
“We are grateful to our previous Director Dr Marta Tufet and Dr John Kirkland the interim director. They led UKCDR to develop and grow a world leading database on funded COVID-19 research projects, produce work on climate change, capacity building, safeguarding, equitable partnerships and map ODA funded research across government. We look forward to increasing the impact of research for international development under Dr Maggy Heintz’s leadership.”
Further information: Dr Maggy Heintz biography
Dr Maggy Heintz is joining UKCDR after over 8 years at the University of Leicester. Most recently Head of Research and Business Development, she was International Research Development Manager for several years working with partners in low- and middle-income countries. In that role, she facilitated, managed, and coordinated large scale multidisciplinary research proposals addressing the UN SDGs.
Prior to this position, Maggy was science attaché in physical sciences and innovation for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in London, and has a research background in Earth Sciences, having conducted research at the Australian National University and the University of Cambridge.